


Reunion

by SoftDadCarlos



Series: Family Life [6]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, Grief, Post-Canon, So much angst, Stay at home dad Carlos, Trauma, please read I cried writing it, there is now a part 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23560039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoftDadCarlos/pseuds/SoftDadCarlos
Summary: Carlos is told Jill is dead. Left to be a single dad.
Relationships: Carlos Oliveira/Jill Valentine
Series: Family Life [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701460
Comments: 32
Kudos: 156





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a conversation I had with midnightanddiamonds on Tumblr last night/early this morning. This probably really sucks though… 

The day Carlos found out Jill was declared dead in absentia would forever be etched in his memory. He had been cleaning up the mess their two-year-old daughter, Eliza, had made of breakfast when knocking on the front door resounded through the house. Opening it revealed a regretful looking Chris Redfield. In that moment Carlos knew. He knew the love of his life, his supercop, was gone. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he invited the old friend in, offering a cup of coffee.

They sat in silence, one trying to find the right words to say what must be said, the other preparing himself for the confirmation of his heartbreak. Their coffees growing cold in their hands as they stared into them.

“She did it to save me. She tackled that fucker out a window… We looked for days but… we couldn’t find their bodies-”

Carlos’ head snapped up to look at Chris, “Then there’s still hope. She could still be alive out there!” His heart pounded in his chest knowing that the likelihood was low but he needed this. Their daughter needed this.

“If… If she did survive then the situation isn’t looking good for her. Her survival would mean Wesker’s. And with the both of them being missing I dread to think what he could be doing to her…”

Jill had gone through so much, survived so much. If there was a chance she had lived, Carlos wasn’t going to give up on her, “You better get out there and find her then before I go do it myself.”

Chris finally cracked what looked to be the makings of a smile as he chuckled, “It’s best you stay put. Can’t go leaving Eliza in a cruel cold Carlos-less world now, can you?”

* * *

Three years had passed. Carlos sat on the floor in the living room as Eliza platted his shoulder-length hair. Something he let her do so that she would eventually know how to do them on herself. There have been many occasions in the first year where Claire or Chris would drop by only to find Carlos midway through practising braids on himself before attempting on Eliza. He had to be twice the parent whilst Jill was gone. He documented each milestone, each precious memory as pictures or videos, all ready for when she returned. Carlos was sure she’d return to them.

“Alright, now you have to swap the hair in your right hand for the hair that’s in the middle.”

Carlos was so engrossed in guiding Eliza what to do that he didn’t hear the soft click of the front door opening and closing.

“Then you have to swap the hair in your left hand-”

He was cut off by the sound of a bag hitting the floor and muffled sob. That voice. Carlos would never forget that voice. He was up and off the floor in a flash, facing the direction the sob came from.

There she was. Carlos took a moment to take her in. Dressed in BSAA gear, blonde hair tied back. That was new. But it was still her. She had made it home. Carlos closed the space between them in quick strides as another sob racked through her body, to bring her into his embrace.

“You’re home now supermum. You’re safe now.” Carlos wasn’t sure if he was reassuring her or himself.

He cradled her head against his chest as he tried and failed to hold back tears, what finally broke him was Eliza. Little Eliza who was in shock until she let out a cry.

“Mama!” She shouted, colliding with both her parents’ legs in her haste to join in on the hug.

Jill reached out a hand to comb it through her daughter’s hair, trying to compose herself somewhat, “You’ve… you’ve… you’ve grown so much. My baby girl.”

For the rest of the day, Eliza refused to let go of her mother as Carlos did everything he could for her. He took her bag upstairs to unpack and found a bottle of brown hair dye nestled in its contents. He wasn’t going to ask her about what happened just yet, his gut telling him to wait, but he could guess that she probably didn’t want to look in the mirror and be reminded of her experiences. Not long after he came back down, Jill asked him to help her dye her hair, a knowing look in her eyes.

That night all three of them shared the king-sized bed in the married couple’s room, not wanting to spend another moment apart for as long as possible. It was a rough night, both Jill and Carlos plagued by nightmares and grateful to wake up in the other’s arms. Although Jill’s nightmares would wake them all up, the trauma causing her to shake and cry as they embraced and consoled her.


	2. The Inbetween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set after Chris tells Carlos and before Jill’s return, we see how Carlos struggles as a single father while dealing with his grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by no-one I just felt like writing this. Kinda cried while writing it so good luck!

Carlos rested his head against the door after he showed Chris out, letting loose a long shaky breath. She was gone. She wouldn’t be coming back. At least not anytime soon because Carlos refused to accept she was dead until he saw a body. And they did not have one. So, for the sake of their baby girl, he couldn’t doubt her will to live and drive to come back home. A part of him blamed himself, he let her go on that mission to find that fucking Spencer guy. He let her go and lost her for it. After a blissful two years of just them and their daughter, he lost her. A larger part of him blamed the B.S.A.A for sending out teams of two because of course with such tiny squads someone was going to go to an extreme to save their teammate. He didn’t blame Chris at all, just by looking at the man Carlos could see the guilt weighing him down.

He pushed himself away from the door and made his way up to Eliza’s room. He had placed her in her playpen there with large soft toys after inviting Chris in. She might have only been two but she was smart enough to understand what is being said around her. Hell, she was starting to string together sentences in three different languages. He slowly pushed open the door, not making a sound, and stood there watching her as she played. For now, she was all he had of Jill other than pictures, clothes, an empty side of the bed and a lifeless office. He watched as she brushed the hair out of her doll’s face.

“Mucho mejor (much better)! You pwetty dolly.”

How was he meant to tell her that Mama wouldn’t be coming back? That it’d just be her and Papa for a while until Uncle Chris finds her? He covered his face with one hand and took a deep breath. He had to be strong for her. He can save his tears once he put her to sleep. Jesus Christ he knew he wouldn’t be getting any sleep for god knows how long.

Eliza must have heard him as she whipped around to face him, “Papa! Where Unc’ Cwis and Mama?”

Carlos swallowed the lump in his throat, he needed to think fast. Looking around her room for inspiration, he spotted her chibi moon bedsheets. That’s it!

Carlos lifted her out of the pen and bounced her slightly like he used to do to soothe her when she was a newborn, “Remember when Usagi got captured by Prince Demande and Tuxedo mask and the sailor scouts had to save her?” Eliza nodded, her thumb in her mouth, “Well when Mama and Uncle Chris were on a mission, Mama got taken by a bad man when she was trying to save Uncle Chris from them. So now Uncle Chris is going to find and rescue her.”

Eliza dropped her thumb with a gasp, “Mama got captured! No no! Es no bueno!”

He felt powerless as Eliza’s bottom lip quivered, fat tears rolling down her chubby freckled cheeks. He tried his best to wipe her tears away one-handed before giving up and just cradling her against him, letting her cry.

* * *

The first couple of months were hard. It was difficult to get used to Jill not being there. He was at a loss at what to do. Especially when Barry informed him that the B.S.A.A were holding a funeral for Jill. They didn’t even have her body and they were already putting her name six-feet in the dirt. It made him feel sick. He refused to go. Instead, Barry, Rebecca, Claire, Leon and Sherry came over offering their support and understanding. Carlos was very much thankful for that. He was thankful that at least they didn’t act like she was already dead. Sherry volunteered to help him around the house and with Eliza but he rejected the idea. He and Eliza didn’t need a replacement, they would make do until their family was whole again.

One thing he had taken to from the very first night was talking to a picture of Jill, the only one that was just of her. She was never fond of having her picture taken, especially alone. He would just talk about how he felt, how much he missed her, what he did that day and how Eliza was doing. Which led to him having the brainwave of writing a diary that recorded Eliza day by day so Jill wouldn’t have missed a thing. He could already feel her guilt over missing Eliza’s little moments in his soul.

Jill’s birthday came and went and Carlos’ heart ached for it. It ached for their daughter who placed an illegible handmade birthday card by their wedding picture, as if her mother would magically appear like Santa Claus on Christmas day. That night he put her to sleep on Jill’s side before heading downstairs to let the other former S.T.A.R.S members and their friends in. They all shared a drink in her memory while sharing stories about her, just to feel close to her. This gave him another idea. He didn’t want Jill to fade from Eliza’s memory while she was gone. So that night he decided that he would tell her stories of Jill every night and show her pictures from the family photo album during the day.

Their first Christmas without her hurt. And with Eliza’s arising mischievousness, he was hopeless at hiding presents from her. He couldn’t help but think that if Jill was there, she would’ve known where to hide the presents from their daughter’s prying eyes. But he was thankful that it wasn’t just him and Eliza. Thankful that Barry came over with his family baring gifts and a Santa costume. Then Claire and Leon with decorations and desserts as well as an announcement that Eliza would have a ‘cousin’ soon. Carlos felt a pang in his chest. Jill would’ve loved to have been there to hear it, to congratulate them as they had her. It was loud and joyous like Christmas with family should be, but Carlos couldn’t shake the emptiness he felt.

When his birthday came, he found he missed the smell of burnt toast as Jill would try and fail to make him some form of breakfast. He missed walking into the kitchen and hugging her from behind as he teased her mercilessly. He missed her stoney mask and watching it crumble into that radiant smile reserved only for him and later Eliza too. His only solace was the sleeping child starfishing and snoring loud enough to wake someone from a coma. He smiled down at her, biting his lip to hold back tears so that she wouldn’t see them if he accidentally woke her. He noticed her hair had grown so much in the last six months and her third birthday was fast approaching. He hoped that Chris would find Jill before then.

It was their wedding anniversary before he knew it. And as much as he hated to be apart from Eliza, he let Barry take her for the day. He needed this day to grieve without being interrupted. To let himself wade through the pool of sorrow in his heart and try to drown it with expensive wine he had saved for this day to share with Jill. What would she think if she walked through the door and saw him in that state? His hair in desperate need of a cut, his beard scruffy and overgrown. Would she tenderly trace the discoloured skin under his eyes and kiss him better? He wished. He wished she was there so he could give her the gift he still bought with the tiny sliver of hope that she’d be back by now.

Leading up to Eliza’s birthday Carlos watched lots of video tutorials on a new-ish website called Youtube. Learning how to style hair because someone in this family had to know how to do their daughter’s hair and in the time he was with Jill, he never witnessed her styling her own hair. He didn’t want Eliza to be upset on her day, so on the morning of her third birthday, Carlos woke her to breakfast in bed - pancales. And once she had scoffed them all down, he sat her on his lap, combing through her hair and making quick work to put it up in a plaited bun. He helped her to pick an outfit to wear for the day, choosing khaki shorts and a Saint Seiya tshirt. ‘Granpa’ Barry, as Eliza had taken to calling him, came over with a gift but couldn’t stay long. Claire came over with Sherry, she was heavily pregnant and let Eliza feel the baby kick. She said Leon couldn’t be there because he got sent out on a mission but he was on his way back. Carlos felt an ounce of jealousy that Claire knew her partner was safe and sound then immediately felt bad for it. While Sherry and Claire kept Eliza’s attention in the living room, Carlos went into the kitchen to bake the birthday cake.

Far too soon it was a year since Jill’s disappearance. Chris tried to send him monthly updates on his progress in trying to find her but sometimes he couldn’t. Sometimes he just had nothing to report. This was one of those times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love hearing from you guys! Please comment what parts you liked!  
> Requests are temporarily closed :) I'm also on twitter @mxbelmounte.

**Author's Note:**

> I love hearing from you guys! Please comment what parts you liked!  
> I do take requests! If you have any feel free to head over to my Tumblr to ask for one! You can also find my [To Do List](https://softdadcarlos.tumblr.com/post/615008925883023360/to-do-list) and rules there :) I'm also on twitter @mxbelmounte.


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